Hurricane Sandy cleanup effort provides jobs for 70 eager to work

Paul Simpson of Jersey City is one of about 300 people who showed up at the Jersey City One-Stop on Wednesday, Nov. 14 looking for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief work. Ron Stein/The Jersey Journal

More than 300 people stopped by the Jersey City One-Stop at 438 Summit Ave. this morning to interview for 70 jobs helping with the Hurricane Sandy cleanup efforts.

The One-Stop is a place for the unemployed seeking assistance in finding a job. Hundreds of people go there each day to meet with representatives, use their computers and phones and attend occasional job fairs.

People looking for work cleaning up in the wake of Sandy interviewed for jobs in general disaster cleanup, forklift operation, distribution of goods and general warehouse work.

Among those interviewing for a job was Paul Simpson of Jersey City, who has been jobless since June. Simpson has dreams of working in the culinary world, but said he is having a difficult time finding employment.

Simpson, who has received training from the Food Service Training Academy and has experience in catering, is seeking temporary work of any kind until he can find a job in his dream field.

“I would think I’d be able to find a job with these credentials,” Simpson said.

“Depression has been settling in and I have just been trying to fight it,” Simpson said. “I’m not going to give up on my goal.”

Adam Pino, a Jersey City resident, is looking for a job to provide for his family after being unemployed for about two months.Ron Stein/The Jersey Journal

Adam Pino, another Jersey City resident, was also eager to find workafter being unemployed for the past eight weeks.

Married with three young boys, Pino had to leave his job at Dunkin Donuts about two months ago to attend to family matters. When he went to get his job back, he was told that his old position had already been filled.

Even with his skills in cooking, security, customer service and telemarketing, as well as a high school degree, Pino can’t find employment anywhere.

“I was always hard-headed and I never listened and look at me now,” Pino said. “I need to make sure I can provide a good future for my kids."